The All Mandala Retreat with H.H. Penor Rinpoche

Rigpa’s first retreat of the summer came to an end on Tuesday as Lerab Ling bid a fond farewell to His Holiness Sakya Trizin. His Holiness concluded the retreat by carrying out a blessing (rab né) of the temple and the main Buddha statue.

The next major retreat at Lerab Ling will be the All Mandala Retreat, from 11-30 August, which will include a visit by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche.

His Holiness will bestow the transmission of Nyingtik Yabshyi, the most important empowerments associated with the Nyingma and Dzogchen teachings, and the most crucial for students to follow the path of Dzogpachenpo, as well as several other empowerments.

The All Mandala Retreat is open to the entire Rigpa sangha. Students of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche are also welcome to attend the period when His Holiness is present at Lerab Ling. For more information, click here.

Vajrakilaya Empowerment bestowed by H.H. Sakya Trizin

His Holiness Sakya Trizin bestowed an elaborate empowerment of Vajrakilaya at Lerab Ling on Friday and Saturday which was received by almost 2,000 students around the world. In addition to the students who were in the temple at Lerab Ling, a further 1,000 students received the empowerment via video streaming to 50 Rigpa centres in 13 different countries.

On Monday, His Holiness will conclude his visit to Lerab Ling by giving a special blessing (rab né) of the temple and the main Buddha statue.

H.H Sakya Trizin arrives at Lerab Ling

His Holiness Sakya Trizin received a traditional Tibetan welcome on Wednesday evening as he arrived at Lerab Ling to give teachings and an elaborate empowerment of Vajrakilaya, according to the Khön family lineage of which he is a direct descendant.

Nearly 1000 students lined the road down to the temple and offered white scarves as His Holiness arrived and was greeted by Sogyal Rinpoche (above).

It is the first time His Holiness Sakya Trizin has visited Lerab Ling since the temple was built, and he is being accommodated in an apartment on the third floor of the temple.

H.H. the Dalai Lama in San Jose 1989

Here's one from the archives. In this video from San Jose in 1989, Sogyal Rinpoche congratulates His Holiness the Dalai Lama following the news that he is to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Dzongsar Khenpos at Lerab Ling

Two of the most senior khenpos from Dzongsar Monastery in eastern Tibet have been visiting Lerab Ling this week.

Dzongsar Monastery, in Derge, was the main seat of Sogyal Rinpoche's master Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö. It was there that Rinpoche spent his early years, and received from Jamyang Khyentse the traditional education given to Tibetan lamas.

While at Lerab Ling, Khenpo Puntsok Namgyal (pictured), who is the abbot of Dzongsar Monastery, taught on the Rimé (ecumenical) movement in Tibet, describing the great 19th century master Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo's tireless efforts to safeguard endangered teachings of all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Dr. Lodrö Puntsok gave a talk about the life of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö and showed a film about Dzongsar Monastery. The Sakya monastery, which was destroyed in 1958, was rebuilt in 1983 under Dr. Lodrö Puntsok's guidance, and it is now thriving again.

Looking for the Elephant's Footprints

Mind in Comfort and Ease: The Vision of Enlightenment in the Great Perfection

In September 2000, at the invitation of Sogyal Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama visited Lerab Ling to give what would be one of his most extensive and vital Buddhist teachings, entitled "The Path to Enlightenment." In the countryside nearby, at what was named Lerab Gar, over ten thousand people attended, from twenty-one different countries.

In these teachings, His Holiness set out the key principles of Buddhism, showing how the mind can be transformed, and suffering overcome, through love, compassion, and a true understanding of the nature of reality. Illustrating his brilliant overview of the path with his own personal experiences and advice on how to integrate practice into our lives, the Dalai Lama is at his best here, bringing Buddhist teachings, especially those of the Great Perfection, or Dzogchen, to life.

"Like an expert jeweller," as Sogyal Rinpoche writes in his foreword, the Dalai Lama "set the teaching of Dzogchen within the context of the other traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, highlighting their parallels and their common ultimate aim of realizing the clear light nature of the mind."

Translated by Matthieu Ricard, Richard Barron, and Adam Pearcey and edited by Patrick Gaffney, Mind in Comfort and Ease is now available in English from Wisdom Books (UK and USA)!

New Rigpa Website is Online

Check out the all new Rigpa website at www.rigpa.org

Holland Spring Retreat with Sogyal Rinpoche

From the 25th-28th of May, Sogyal Rinpoche taught a gathering of over 400 of his Dutch students during a four day weekend retreat in the forests outside Amsterdam.

Saga Dawa Düchen

On May 31st, the Rigpa sangha joined together in centres around the world to practice and celebrate Saga Dawa Düchen, one of the four great festival days throughout the year that relate to the life of Buddha Shakyamuni. These four days are important days for practice as it is said that on these days the effects of positive or negative actions are multiplied 10 million times. This particular day marks the anniversary of the Buddha's enlightenment and parinirvana.

At Lerab Ling, the three year retreatants practiced from early morning until almost midnight joined by Sogyal Rinpoche, Khandro Tsering Chödrön, and Sogyal Rinpoche's mother Mayum-la Tsering Wangmo.